ba14eagle

I'm not a fan of the owners names being under the number - it didn't look good on the last livery - a bit too cluttered. But, as others have said, its nice to see it in a modern livery (I think its nicer than the GBRF livery on 007 & 049) and earning its keep.

A number of O gauge items of rolling stock have recently arrived at Summer Hampton.

I have now managed to make contact - lets hope delivery happens soon!

Has anyone had any contact with Robert Tivondale from CRT kits, lately? I spoke to him on 13th February regarding an outstanding order I have with him and was promised delivery within 2 - 3 weeks - 8 weeks later I have seen or heard nothing. Having paid upfront for my items, I'm feeling a little bit miffed, World pandemic or not.

An enjoyable morning spent in the garden, chatting to some retired work colleagues, required some train running. Hornby 5274 is a fairly recent purchase and ran faultlessly.

Lets meet the class 31's.

I've now made a start on some films that introduce people to the OO gauge fleet of locos at Summer Hampton. Here are the 37's.

Yep - IIRC the end suite was "the Flying Scotsman" - there was a deck area at the end of the coach.

Time to run some OO. More to come.

I have finally finished my 117 dmu, adding passengers, drivers and the fiddly pipework.

Got my wagon on Friday. Very pleased with it - for such a boring wagon, I cant stop looking at it! It took me ages to find and operate the tail lamp switch, but It gave me something to do whilst waiting for Amazon to deliver the batteries! (Why do Amazon insist on showing you 3000 things you don't want when you've specifically selected to search for a specific type of item?) As the real thing were built at the very start of my very short, time period modelled, I've had to try and be very sparing with the weathering, but am pleased with the result. I've just noticed the wonky buffer.

I particularly like the second picture of 35018 - spot on!

Contact made!

It has been bitterly cold out but I put on my big boy pants and braved the cold, to run some trains.

If you are going to light the car park, might you want to paint out the background houses? Are you tempted to slice some cars in half, to fill the car park up?

Looks like an RFB - Mk2D FO converted to incorporate a buffet counter / hatch. InterCity Cross Country's solution to getting rid of Mk1 catering vehicles from their fleet. Unfortunately, later on, TOC's used the same sort of approach to spoil their HST sets

Many thanks for the info. I didnt know about the Yeovil parcels headcodes - very useful

I had 2 1L16's on the panel at the same time last Winter - less than 1 mile apart - One a diverted Swansea to Padd (on the East chord), the other was a Exeter to Waterloo (might be the other way around), changing ends in the station - both Sunday diversions.

In your first photo at Pembroke Dock - looking towards the buffer stops - note the gap in the houses - a branch used to run down through here to a waterside depot (I cant remember exactly what it was, but if my memory serves correct, it could have been armaments / ordanance). A former work colleague, whose Father was a driver at Carmarthen, recalls seeing a Western working down there.

Seems that 4B07 was a Paddington to Bristol parcels.

I am looking for help from anyone who might own a Western Region Passenger working timetable for the latter part of 1973 to early 1974, covering the Bristol / Westbury area. I need confirmation of some headcodes. I have seen a headcode of 4O22 for a Bristol to Salisbury parcels train - is this correct for the period? I have also seen suggestions that 6B07 might be correct, although it doesnt ring true with me. Also, I am looking for a Weymouth to Bristol passenger service - were all 2V61 as ive seen in photos? Also, a local Westbury to Bristol passenger headcode would be useful. many thanks in advance

I seem to have neglected this thread lately. There hasn't been much building or development with the layout itself, but I have purchased a number of new O gauge items of rolling stock.

Amazing looking at Google Earth / Bing Maps of the Swansea Burrows areas today. No railway activity at all. Thanks for all the updates Kevin - superb as always and I am another who has received one of your books this Christmas - fantastic reading - I just need to get the South Wales one now!

It depends on the portion of route - eg between Tavistock Jn and Newton Abbot, a 66 could take 6 or 7, but away from the banks, a train could be a lot bigger.